So what happened to Axl?

[NBKNAS]

How the heck does he go from

this

to this

usually when you lose your voice, you don't just regain it especially at that age and time. Am I missing something? was he sick or something? it just boggles the mind how if he has had a performance like the only he just did at the VMA, everything would have been different.

So what was it. btw, i'm not talking about the band and so on, just his vocals.

[Demon Wolf]

He's had vocal training for sure. Bach recommended him someone in 2006 if I am not mistaken, and it seemed to have done the trick.

In my opinion, he sounds better nowadays than in 1991-1992 when it was just a tuneless garble. 1993 was great of course, as was the eighties, but one thing is sure... he sounds damn well nowadays!

[Conor]

That wasn't the official Axl in 2002.

[DocBrown]

It's the mustache.

[Black Sabbath]

How does it not make sense?

Axl came back in the early 2000s after not singing live for so many years, so his voice was just not the same. Then, as he started to tour again, his voice would eventually start to come back and change. I'm assuming he also got some vocal training, as Demon Wolf said.

[GunsNRevolvers2]

He didn't sing in years, and treated his voice like shit on the UYI tours..he came back out of no where expecting to be exactly the same, and wasn't.

So in 2006 when they went back on tour, he prepared much better for it, and got his voice back into good shape, and probably got some vocal training. and wahlah! He is much better in 2006, and now, imo, then he was from 91-93

[Guest Sweet Tooth]

The mountain of stress that is off his chest since the release of CD.

Edited January 18, 2010 by Sweet Tooth

[Fallenbird77]

It's the mustache.

BINGO!!!

[plonker88]

The mountain of stress that is off his chest since the release of CD.

This is a big part of it I reckon, you can see just how relaxed he is on stage right now and also just how incredible his voice is.

[Andrew07]

How the heck does he go from

this

to this

usually when you lose your voice, you don't just regain it especially at that age and time. Am I missing something? was he sick or something? it just boggles the mind how if he has had a performance like the only he just did at the VMA, everything would have been different.

So what was it. btw, i'm not talking about the band and so on, just his vocals.

plus at the 2002 vmas, he probably blew out his vocal chords after that first intro scream

[Demon Wolf]

The intro scream was awesome, but it is obvious the in ear monitor wasn't working properly... and if you can't hear yourself, it is anyone's guess how it'll sound. It is painful to listen to.

Edited January 18, 2010 by Demon Wolf

[Bruno P.]

The intro scream was awesome, but it is obvious the in ear monitor wasn't working properly... and if you can't hear yourself, it is anyone's guess how it'll sound. It is painful to listen to.

Ron doesn't hear himself and still sounds amazing. That's not an excuse imo.

He just wanted to sing that way probably in 01-02. And the VMA's was only a bad vocal performance....

[Black Sabbath]

The intro scream was awesome, but it is obvious the in ear monitor wasn't working properly... and if you can't hear yourself, it is anyone's guess how it'll sound. It is painful to listen to.

Ron doesn't hear himself and still sounds amazing. That's not an excuse imo.

It's different when you're singing.

[Use Your Delusion 1]

The VMA's was utter shit, a complete embarrassment. I I woke up bloody early to see it hoping that Guns would be on at it was a shambles

thank god he's alot better now, and so it the band, much more tight

[Demon Wolf]

The intro scream was awesome, but it is obvious the in ear monitor wasn't working properly... and if you can't hear yourself, it is anyone's guess how it'll sound. It is painful to listen to.

Ron doesn't hear himself and still sounds amazing. That's not an excuse imo.

He just wanted to sing that way probably in 01-02. And the VMA's was only a bad vocal performance....

That is very different. On the guitar, you always know how the note will sound. But if you can't hear yourself, you can't sing for shit. That's why deaf people sound so strange when they attempt to talk. They know how to say it, but since they can't hear it they have no control over how it sounds.

Axl didn't sound very good in 01-02, but the he sounded better than the VMA's show.

[Gagarin]

Not a lot of good anaylsis here.

Axl had not sang very much since 1993, this is true, but he HAD sung. Many of the vocal cuts on Chinese Democracy happened before 2002, perhaps as early as 1999.

It's obvious to me that he was using a very different technique doing shows after 1994 than he had done before - and a different technique than what he had done and continues to do in the studio. Many of the new songs sounded good with this, but many of the old songs did not.

But he could still sing as of 1999 - the Live Era re-dubs prove this (if you can't spot the re-recorded sections, shame on you!).

I think it comes down to trying a technique to save his voice and he was very inconsistant with controlling it.

I believe 1991-1993 utterly destroyed his voice and lots of his primal ability, so he was trying to conserve it. I also think the slowness in recording vocals was he was very much afraid of what his voice would sound like after the few years he hadn't been using it.

But in 2006 he immediately sounded different - BEFORE he got Baz's vocal coach/lessons. I think he learned some new things.

But at the core, his technique is very much differant than before. He's using his voice much differently. Good results, but it's different.

[D..]

*

I think it comes down to trying a technique to save his voice and he was very inconsistant with controlling it.

I believe 1991-1993 utterly destroyed his voice and lots of his primal ability, so he was trying to conserve it. I also think the slowness in recording vocals was he was very much afraid of what his voice would sound like after the few years he hadn't been using it.

Hmmm I don't know, I think it all comes down to him using a different technique. Some of the cd songs have nothing to do with the old stuff, and on the VMA's he clearly masters Madagascar but he fucks up Jungle and paradise city big time.

[GeorgeGlass]

How the heck does he go from

this

to this

usually when you lose your voice, you don't just regain it especially at that age and time. Am I missing something? was he sick or something? it just boggles the mind how if he has had a performance like the only he just did at the VMA, everything would have been different.

So what was it. btw, i'm not talking about the band and so on, just his vocals.

I honestly think we'll never find out what happened, but I agree with you that he sounded very poor in '02, got much better in '06 and sounds wicked in '09-'10. I'm sure he wishes the '02 MTV VMA's never happened, and so do I. I really don't know what a vocal coach could do, because all Axl had to do was listen to himself from the illusions era. What's the coach going to say "Listen to Argentina '93 and do that?" The way he's singing now, you can't teach that shit.

[Freddie Mercury's Ghost]

Axl hadn't sang regularly in years and was out of shape. He lost his technique.

Kind of like Robert Plant showing up at Live Aid in 1985 to play with Zeppelin, and sounding like shit:

[Crowebar]

Whatever it is that he did, he should keep on doing it!!

I think it comes down to Axl being hungry again and perhaps he also has something to prove again, before he retires.

[GeorgeGlass]

Axl hadn't sang regularly in years and was out of shape. He lost his technique.

Kind of like Robert Plant showing up at Live Aid in 1985 to play with Zeppelin, and sounding like shit:

wow he does sound terrible.

[Ali]

A lot of it has to do with not closing his throat as much and therefore not doing as much damage to his throat when singing. He doesn't over extend his chest voice as much as he used to. I haven't seen him smoking cigarettes in recent years, and that will make a huge difference. Also, I think overall he seems more diligent about vocal conditioning. I'm pleasantly surprised to see how much stronger his voice has gotten since Asia, especially the middle portion of his voice. He was probably doing a lot of vocal exercises the last few weeks.

Ali

[tkarmy]

A lot of it has to do with not closing his throat as much and therefore not doing as much damage to his throat when singing. He doesn't over extend his chest voice as much as he used to. I haven't seen him smoking cigarettes in recent years, and that will make a huge difference. Also, I think overall he seems more diligent about vocal conditioning. I'm pleasantly surprised to see how much stronger his voice has gotten since Asia, especially the middle portion of his voice. He was probably doing a lot of vocal exercises the last few weeks.

Ali

having seen the last three shows I would agree... he sounded good in the high register in asia but really weak in his upper chest voice... from Winnipeg to Edmonton he has been getting stronger every night! Clearly has had some lessons in the Sebastian bach vein of things... the ability to scream without completely reeking havoc on the vocal chords.

[Nintari]

I've said it in here before...Axl quit smoking and was a non smoker during the early part of the decade (RIR3 ect.) and then took it up again. This had an impact on his voice and helped him sound more like he use to in the 80's and early 90's.

[Ali]

A lot of it has to do with not closing his throat as much and therefore not doing as much damage to his throat when singing. He doesn't over extend his chest voice as much as he used to. I haven't seen him smoking cigarettes in recent years, and that will make a huge difference. Also, I think overall he seems more diligent about vocal conditioning. I'm pleasantly surprised to see how much stronger his voice has gotten since Asia, especially the middle portion of his voice. He was probably doing a lot of vocal exercises the last few weeks.

Ali

having seen the last three shows I would agree... he sounded good in the high register in asia but really weak in his upper chest voice... from Winnipeg to Edmonton he has been getting stronger every night! Clearly has had some lessons in the Sebastian bach vein of things... the ability to scream without completely reeking havoc on the vocal chords.

Oh, yes. In Asia, the transition region between his chest and head voice was very weak. That area has clearly gotten stronger in the last few weeks. You can't push too hard when your singing in your upper register - well, really any part of your range, but especially your upper register - or you'll damage your voice.

Ali